A G 
E A G 
The largeft fpecies of Eagles fcldom lay more 
than two eggs a piece, and the fmalleft never nnore 
than three. The fenaale, it is faid, hatches them 
for thirty days; but, notwithftanding her care and 
afliduity, fne feldom produces a bird from every 
egg. 
The plumage of Eaglets is not fo flrongly 
marked as v/hen they become adult: they are at 
firft white; afterwards they incline to yellovv? ; and, 
laftly, to brov/n. Age, hunger, long confinement, 
and difeafe, render them ftill whiter and whiter ; 
but it is faid that, when they die at laft, it is not fo 
much through age as from their beaks turning in- 
wards on ch.cir under mandibles, and thereby pre- 
venting them from taking their neceffary food. 
Pennant obicrves, that they are equally remarka- 
ble for their longevity and long abftinence from 
-food ; that one of thefe fpecies, at the time of writ- 
ing his Britifb. Zoology, had been nine years in the 
pofTeffion of Mr. Owen Holland of Conway, as 
v/eli as lived thirty-two years with the gentleman 
who made him a prefent of it; but that he was un- 
acquainted with it's age when the latter received it 
from Ireland. This bird alfo verifies the former 
remark; for, through the negligence of fervants, 
it was once fuffered to faft for twenty-one days, not" 
■having received any fjftenance v/hatever during 
that period. 
Such are the general charafteriftics and habi- 
tudes of the Eagle; though, in fome fpecies, thefe 
habits differ, as will appear in the particular de- 
fcriptions of each. 
Eagle, Common. The Common Eagle is of 
a brown colour; the head and upper part of the 
neck incline to red; the feathers of the tail are 
white, except towards their ends, w^here they are 
blackifh; the four exterior ones on each fide are ci- 
nereous; and the legs are cloathed with a reddifli 
brown plumiSge. 
Eagle, Golden; the falco chryfaetos of Lin- 
naeus. This bird, which is the largePc and noblefi: 
of the Eagle kind, v/eighs about twelve pounds ; 
it's length is three feet, and the extent of it's wings 
feven feet four inches. The bill, v/liich is three 
inches long, is of a deep blue colour; the eyes are 
Kazel; and both the fight and fenfe of fmelling 
are very acui"e. The head and neck are covered 
with narrow, fharp-pointed, dark brovm feathers, 
edged with tawny; but, in thofe which are far 
advanced in years, the plumage of the crown 
the head is grey. The whole body is a dark 
brown, the feathers on the back being delightfully 
(haded with a deeper tinge of the fime colour. 
The wings, when clofed, reach to the end of the 
tail; the quill-feathers are chocolate-coloured, with 
white fnafts; the tail is a deep brown, irrregularly 
barred and fpotted with an obfcure cinereous, the 
roots of the feathers being generally white. The 
legs, which are yellow, fhort, and very ftrong, are 
three inches in circumference, and feathered dov/n 
to the very feet; and the toes are covered with 
large fcales, and armed with very formidable claws, 
the mj.ddlem.oft being two inches long. 
This fpecies is found in the mountainous parts 
of Ireland, and generally breeds in the loftieft 
cliffs. It ufually lays three, and fornetimes four 
eggs, though feldom m.ore than two of them be- 
come prolific; Providence mercifully denying a 
large increafe to rapacious animals, becaufe nox- 
ious to man; but s-racioufiv permitting; an unli- 
mited multiplication of fuch as are ferviceable to 
liim. The Golden Eagle has alfo at times been 
i Caernarvonfhire; and there are fome few 
in s of it's having bred on Snowdon Hills | 
froi "ch circumftance fome writers have giveni 
that the appellation of the Eagle Rocks. 
Ea Bald. This fpecies, which inhabits 
North '^na, is remarkable for habits peculiar 
to itfelf hat country. Eagles breed through- 
out the w T; and, as foon as the young are 
covered wit- ^nd a kind of white woolly fea- 
thers, the feiii. '''"r to a future progeny^ 
lay other eggs, a^. be hatched by 
the v/armth of the yo, "'^'^tinue 
in the nefc; the flight of on^ 
room for the next, which is then bui ^ _ 
The Bald Eagle flies very heavily, and is incapa- , 
ble of overtaking it's prey like the reft of the tribe : 
it therefore generally attends on the fowlers during 
winter; and, when any birds are wounded by them, 
it immediately feizes them. It alfo frequently fteals 
young pigs, and carries them alive to it's neft, a 
very filthy one, compofcd of twigs, fticks, and 
rubbifh, and generally ftored with half-eaten bones 
and putrid flefh. The body of this ravenous bird 
is brov/n; the head, neck, and tail, are white; and 
the upper-parts of the legs are brown. 
Eagle, Ring-Tailed ; the falco fulvus of Lin- 
n£us. This fpecies, which feems to be peculiar 
to the northern parts of Europe and to America, is 
of the fize of the common Eagle; the bill is of a 
blueifii horn-colour; the upper mandible, which 
is arched, hangs over the lower one about an inch, 
having an angle or tooth on each fide ; and the 
lower mandible is Ihorter than tlie upper, and in- 
clofed in it. The irldes are hazel-coloured; and 
the pupil is black. Between the bill and the eyes 
there are fpaces of bare lldn of a dirty hue, thinly 
fet v;ith friall black hairs; the head and neck are 
inverted with narrov/ brown feathers ending in 
fharp points; and the whole body is covered with 
dulky brown feathers, darker on the back, and 
lighter on the under-fide. The breaft is marked 
with white triangular fpots in the middle of each 
feather; the covert-feathers of the wings are of the 
fame colour as thofe of the body; the quills or 
flag-feathers of the wings are black; and a few of 
the quilis in the firft row of coverts next the back 
are variegated with tranfvcrfe lines of a darker and 
lighter colour. The tdil, which is of an equal 
length wkh the wings when clofed, is white, except 
the tips of the feathers, which are black, or dark 
brown; and the coverts under the tail are a reddifh 
brown or bay. The thighs are invefted with dark 
brown feathers of a very loofe texture, through 
which a white down appears in ibme places; and 
the legs are covered, quite down to the feet, with a 
foft reddifli brown plumage. There are four toes 
on each foot, very thick and ftrong, and cover-ed 
with yellov/ifti fcales ;■ and the claws or talons, 
which are black, and very powerful, bend alm.oft 
into femicircular figuixs, and terminate in very 
fharp points. 
Eagle, Black. This bird, which ftrongly re- 
fembles the ring-tail Eagle in almoft every refped:, 
is very frequent in Scotland, where it is called the 
Black Eagle from the colour of it's plumage. It 
leizes the deer between it's horns; and, by incef- 
fantly beating the eyes of that animal with it's 
vvings, foon makes a conqueft of it: and, in the 
ifle of Rum, the Eagles have alrnoft exriroated the 
breed of flags which ufed to abound there. This 
fpecies generally builds their nefts in clifts of rocks 
near the deer-forefts; and make great havock, noc 
3 X Qfdy 
